Careful farm siting and planning are one way to contribute to the sustainable growth of aquaculture in the U.S., especially in crowded coastal and marine spaces. The Marine Spatial Ecology Division at the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Sciences (NCCOS) at NOAA have developed tools and resources that begin to address the complex needs of interested groups using coastal-ocean spaces, especially for aquaculture. Because coastal-ocean environments accommodate many activities that could overlap with aquaculture and NCCOS’ tools and resources rely on continual feedback from end-users, it is important to deliberately connect and build capacity among local user-groups.
Through conversations centered around aquaculture planning tools, Maryland Sea Grant and partners hosted six collaborative, regionally tailored workshops across the nation over the course of four years to connect the Sea Grant Network, NCCOS, aquaculture extension specialists, and other coastal-ocean groups to improve the sustainable growth of the aquaculture industry. The workshops were located in the Mid-Atlantic (Fall 2022), Gulf (Winter 2023), California (Fall 2023), Alaska (Winter 2025), Hawaiʻi (Fall 2025), and New England (Winter 2026). Through this project we aimed to 1) extend NCCOS aquaculture planning resources, 2) increase connections and collaborations with a wide variety of interested parties, and 3) advance aquaculture siting conversations more broadly with summary reports citing key themes and findings after each workshop.
After completing all six workshops, we have identified preliminary regional differences and similarities with respect to aquaculture siting tool use and needs. Participants discussed needs related to tool delivery, accessibility, data transparency, and functionalities. The discussions in each region were influenced by local concerns or events impacting aquaculture growth, like social license challenges or level of offshore aquaculture activity and conversations. Similarly, data suggestions differed depending on regional oceanographic or environmental concerns, like harmful algal blooms or storm surge. Additionally, participants reflected on their present engagement with various communities in coastal and marine spaces to identify groups that need to be brought into the discussions.